Fenton watched his son breath. He would never have thought that there was anything more awe inspiring then watching a person take a breath of air; that was until today. Just yesterday he was forcing air into his son's lungs, forcing him to breathe, to stay alive. Just last night a machine was keeping his air way open. Now he was breathing on his own. Sure it was a raspy breath and at times a little of a struggle, but he was breathing. And that was all that mattered.

Frank had been out of surgery since early morning. While there had been no complications, some recent test had shown that Frank did indeed have some internal bleeding so they had decided to extend the sugary. Because of that, Joe's sugary had been pushed back to this evening and soon Fenton would have to leave his eldest side to go and reassure Joe.

With a sigh, Fenton leaned in closer to Frank and took his un-bandaged left hand in his. Gently he rubbed his thumb over the knuckles, like he'd done so many times before when one of his boys were sick or hurt. He examined his son as only a father could, taking in every burse, every cut, and every injury. And with each new observation he felt his anger grow, and his helplessness to act only helped it to grow.

With another sigh Fenton ran a hand through his hair before resting his head on the side of the hospital bed. How long had it been since he last slept? He didn't want to think about it. How much time passed, he didn't know, what he did know was that his son had groaned.

"Frank?" Fenton said in his best stern father's voice. "Franklin Hardy."

There was another moan and Frank started to fidget and his eyes started to flitter.

"Franklin Hardy it's time to get up. You have a lot of work to do and you've over slept," Fenton continued on in his stern voice, though he really wanted to cry he was so excited.

"Daaa….aadd?" the work was so soft and gargled, so forced and distorted that Fenton had to think twice before he understood it.

"I'm here son….right here…." With out moving from his spot Fenton hit the call button to summon a nurse. Frank's eyes fluttered open to just slits and he sought out his father.

"Ja…o…ooo…" again, the word was painful and hard to hear but Fenton understood instantly.

"He's fine, in fact he's better then you. You had to have a surgery, that's why you're in different rooms. Joe's fine Frank. You're both safe now. It's all over. How do you feel?"

"Wa…ter…"

Fenton smiled and nodded, he reached behind him to fill a glass with the pitcher that had been placed there for the Hardy's use and then held the glass for his son. Frank took three long sips grateful for the feel of the cool liquid.

"Frank, when you're ready, I need you to tell me what happened son. I need to know what the three bastards did…" Fenton warned Frank, but his sentence went unfinished as he caught the look on his son's face, "What's wrong?"

"There…were…four…" Frank said, his voice still raspy but clear enough for the words to make Fenton's blood run cold. But before the father could ask another question, Dr. Casey entered the room.

"Well, look at those pretty brown eyes!" she said with a smile, "And here I thought they'd gone on vacation for the summer."

Frank gave her a sleepy smile, "Hi…."

"While it's always good to hear your voice Frank, take it easy. You just had a breathing tube removed from this morning, don't rush it. Let's just see how you're holding up shall we?" As Casey prepared to begin her examination he turned to Fenton and said, "Why don't you go tell Laura and Joe the good news? I'm sure they could both use it."

Reluctantly Fenton agreed and soon excused himself to find his wife and youngest.

Vanessa was glad to be out of there. She stood for a moment in the warm sun and let the fresh, clear air play with her hair. She let the warmth of the day dry the tears that threatened to fall and felt herself relax slightly.

She had just spent the last hour with Joe, waiting as he wrote out, in great detail, what had happened to the brothers. She had no doubt that it was therapeutic to Joe; Finally allowing him to express freely what happened and not feeling like he had to give a detached, formal, version of the attack; but it was a nightmare for Vanessa.

Even now, in the warmth of the early summer's evening, a bone chilling shudder ran through her as she reread the passages depicting the boy's torture and Frank's attempted murder;

'They lead me into the kitchen where a guy, about five eight, maybe taller, lean build (like a runner), and dressed completely in black with gloves and a mask was torturing Frank. They'd stripped him from his waist up and he was covered in cuts, burns and bruises. They had him tied eagle spread to the kitchen island and they'd blindfolded and gagged him. I don't know how long they'd been there, but I could tell that it was awhile because even kneeling Frank couldn't support his own weight.……The guy, the one in charge, he licked Franks neck then tore into him and started to suck the blood…it looked like rape…'

'They forced me to sit in one of the dining room chairs and they took Frank's blind fold off and used it to gag me. I could taste Frank's blood… The guy who was torturing Frank began to circle me. I felt like a mouse being stalked by an eagle, like he had me in his sights and I had no place to hide. A moment later he ripped a section of skin from my neck and started sucking…if it wasn't for Frank I would have lost it right there and then…After the guy got stopped beating me, the girl straddled me and cut off my shirt. She cut me a few times with the knife I think before she stabbed it into my leg and started to twist…'

'As they were torturing me, I heard Frank begging…he was asking the guy to leave me alone, he was begging for me…They stopped and put me back in the chair and I had to watch as the guy forced Frank to kiss him…when the girl returned she had a vile of lighter fluid with her. He made me watch as he poured it on Frank's back and then lit him on fire…'

'They let him burn for a moment, then put the fire out. Frank crumbled like a rag doll…the guy cradled him, like you would a baby, and he strangled Frank…I thought he was dead…I laid there staring at Frank all night and he never moved, I couldn't tell if he was breathing…I thought he was dead….'

Vanessa again fought back the tears and quickly made her way to where she could see Biff and Chet. When she got closer, she noticed that the two had made a food run and were munching away on burritos. "I see you two got board," she said with a tired and very strained smile.

Chet smiled at her warmly, "We got you something too," he said racing into the car and pulling out a bag.

Vanessa took the bag from Chet and numbingly noted that the restaurant was one of Joe's favorite places to eat. After the last hour she had, that thought alone was enough to set her off and she leaned into Biff sobbing.

"Hey…hey…hey, it's alright…" Biff said, looking confusedly at Chet while at the same time engulfing her in a brotherly hug.

Chet and Biff both stood there kind of awkwardly waiting until Vanessa regained control. They had no idea what to say or do, because they had no idea what had set her off. All they could do was form a kind of protective barrier around her until she was ready to talk. Luckily for them, they didn't have to wait to long.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" she said as she pulled away from Biff to lean against the car, "I just hate this!"

"Hate what?" Biff asked, "Joe and Frank?"

Vanessa nodded and handed him the pad Joe had used to write his story on. Almost reluctantly Biff took it and he and Chet began to read.

"You know, we may want to see the crime scene…" Callie said absentmindedly as she and Phil entered the Hardy's pharmacy, a small mom and pop's drug store with in walking distance of the Hardy home.

Phil looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "How are we suppose to do that?"

"We could clean it for them, so that Mr. and Mrs. Hardy don't have to worry about it…." Callie said simply.

"True…Come on, there's Mr. Ganger," Phil said as he headed over to an elderly looking man. "Mr. Ganger!"

The man looked up startled from where he had obviously been sleeping and gave a warm smile when he saw the two. "Hello Phil and Ms. Shaw. I heard about Frank and Joe, how are you two holding up?"

Callie smiled, that's what she loved about Mr. Ganger, he never assumed that you knew about how other people were and only assumed you knew how you were. That and he always gave her free ice-cream when she was younger. "It's been a rough day, but we're getting on."

"Yeah…it's a bad turn of events…what can I get you two? Same old ice-cream Sunday's?"

"No, not today Mr. Ganger, thank you," Phil said, "We're actually planning on helping Mr. and Mrs. Hardy out by cleaning up the house a little and picking up a few things for them."

"Oh, ain't that good of you? Well if you wait here I'll get you Mrs. Hardy's tea and some of the snakes she gets for the boys."

"Thank you," Phil said as the elderly man disappeared. Something behind the corner caught his eye and he focused his attention on it. It was a picture of Bobby Rose with the caption 'employ of the month' under it. Phil had just enough time to point it out to Callie before Mr. Ganger.

"There you are, and don't worry about the price, "Mr. Ganger said putting several bags down in front of the two, "It's on the house."

"Mr. Ganger, are you looking to hire anyone?" Phil asked, going with what his instincts were telling him.

"Oh Lordy no, I've got my hands full with the ten I have. Feels like I'm baby sitting more then bossing. Huh, they should be paying me."

"Well at least Bobby seems to do alright," Phil said point to the picture.

Ganger looked and shrugged, "When he's here. That boy has the mind to keep his own hours…course he does work hard."

"Dose he work Saturdays, cause I don't have a lot to do in the evenings, I mean I could fill in for him.?" Phil asked causally.

"That's nice of you Phil, and I'll keep it in mind. 'Specially after this last Saturday."

"Why, what happened?" Callie asked catching on with Phil's plan.

"Well, Bobby, and I don't want you kids spreading this around or nothing, but Bobby showed up and was acting all nervous like until about, I don't know seven thirty maybe. Then he got a call and high tailed it out of here, a whole hour early. It was strange."

"That is strange…" Phil agreed, the wheels in his head turning, "Well thank you Mr. Ganger and we'll see you around."

"Yup, take care now."

And with that the three parted company.

Outside in the parking lot Callie and Phil went to work. While Phil called the other's and told them to met Callie and him at the Hardy's, Callie called Mrs. Hardy to explain that they wanted to help. It took some persuasion, but finally the girl convinced Mrs. Hardy to let the teenagers clean the house under the guise, "We just feel so helpless not being able to do anything."

When the conversation ended, Callie let off a sincere cheer of joy and started to laugh and cry at the same time.

"What is it?" Phil asked, a little freaked by this sudden change in Callie.

"Frank's awake! He's awake !"